Ice Cream
by Ray by Another Name
Summary: Bonus Day 1 of Qrowin Week! Prompt was mission or vacation. Qrow and Winter happen upon one another in ice cream shop while on vacation. A bit of a meet cute fic. Young versions of RWBY also make an appearance - cause someone had to force these two on vacation. 2205 words.


Bonus Day 1 of Qrowin Week! Prompt was mission or vacation.

Qrow and Winter happen upon one another in ice cream shop while on vacation. A bit of a meet cute fic. Young versions of RWBY also make an appearance - cause someone had to force these two on vacation. 2205 words.

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**Ice Cream  
**

Qrow had a niece on each arm, both tugging, both pouting. Across the room, Taiyang was smirking. The bastard.

"You have to come Uncle Qrow!" Yang tugged repeatedly on his sleeve as she whined. "It's not a REAL family vacation if you don't come with us."

Ruby whimpered and Qrow made the mistake of looking at her. Her bottom lip was stuck out and her eyes as big and watery as she could make them.

"Damn it." Qrow glared over at Tai, "I know this was a trap, for the record." Tai shrugged, still smirking.

Yang and Ruby's pleading synchronized, "Please Uncle Qrow!"

"Fine!" Qrow sighed, threw his head back. "I will go to the beach with you." The squeals were killer on his hangover headache.

-.-.-

A knock on Winter's apartment door brought her from her study into the front room. She paused, smoothed down her shirt, and then opened the door.

"Winter!" Weiss grinned up at her big sister, but rather than launching herself at the woman for a hug like she might have only months earlier, Weiss curtsied.

Winter's lip twitched, "This is a lovely surprise."

She ushered her sister into the living room. The SDC security guard didn't cross her threshold. She glared at him until he took position outside her door and then she closed it.

"How are you doing Weiss?" Winter gestured for her to sit and Weiss carefully perched herself on the duvet. Ankles and wrists crossed, skirt smoothed flat. "May I offer you some tea? Or water?"

Winter had exactly one container of stale noodles in her cupboards at the moment. She'd only returned from her assignment in Mistrial that morning.

"No, thank you," Weiss nodded her head. Despite all the courtesies and careful motions, Weiss still vibrated with excitement. "I came to ask you something actually." Winter raised a brow. "Father has to go to Vale to negotiate a trade deal and has decided the whole family should go with, as a vacation. I was hoping you might like to join us?"

Winter swallowed back her initial suspicious response. Weiss had been quite nervous upon her appointment as Schnee heiress, about Winter's reaction specifically. It would not do to upset her.

"Mother and Whitley will be coming of course," Weiss continued, her hands twisting together nervously as Winter remained silent. "Klaus will accompany us. And a security team, so you could relax too. No worries whatsoever."

Hand gestures are what always gave Weiss away. She was really very expressive. She'd physically waved when she mentioned the worries.

"Has something happened, Weiss?" Winter moved from her armchair to the duvet. She took Weiss' hand in her own. "Are you or Whitley in danger?"

The court-perfect smile that Weiss had plastered on her face when she came began to crumble. "There's been some…incidents." Weiss swallowed, "Father is concerned that Atlas may not be safe at the moment."

"Alright," Winter nodded, her back straightened. "I have some leave accrued. When do we leave?" Weiss lit up, her true smile - a soft quirk of her lips - graced her face.

-.-.-

Qrow discovered pretty quick that Tai had ulterior motives in wanting him on this trip. The beach town was on an island - a dry island. There was not a drop alcohol for a hundred miles. Most of which was water.

And Qrow didn't like to swim.

"You could always fly away," Taiyang flapped his hands at his shoulder, grinning. The bastard. Qrow kicked sand at him.

As if signalled by an invisible force, Yang and Ruby popped up to assist him. Tai was engaged on three fronts and swiftly fell into the sand with an undignified squawk.

"Nicely done, girls." Qrow patted Ruby on the head as she squealed next to him. Yang fist pumped. "What d'ya say we leave this lame-o here and go on a quest for ice cream?"

"Yeah!" Yang jumped into the air, hands out wide and pigtails flying Ruby immediately followed suit, bouncing up and down.

The chants for ice creamed followed Qrow as he lead the girls toward the boardwalk. He smiled at the yelling of Taiyang - trapped under a mound of sand. "You could always punch through it!" He called over his shoulder.

-.-.-

"Ice cream!" Whitley pointed excitedly across the street, nearly pulling himself out of Winter's arms. Weiss looked at the shop with wide eyes as well.

Winter tapped her on the shoulder, "Would you like some?" Weiss nodded vigorously, then caught herself.

"That would be…acceptable." Weiss tilted her head, frowning as she tried to construct a 'proper' response.

"Very acceptable!" Whitley bounced and Winter tightened her hold slightly.

-.-.-

An Atlasian guard was not something Qrow expected to encounter on the tiny island between Vale and Patch. Encounter one he did though. Four of them. Waiting just outside an ice cream parlour.

"May I sample the vanilla cream please?"

Qrow took in the small party at the counter and drew several conclusions. One - they were Atlasian, the sharp chins and lack of tan were a dead giveaway. Two - they were rich, cause no one else would dress in puffy shirts or skirts when it was nearly 100° degrees.

Third - the woman with the kids was hot.

Long white hair, curves, and she was the only one dressed even slightly sensibly. It was a military uniform. But Qrow certainly wouldn't discriminate.

"Woah…" Qrow glanced down at Yang. She was staring, not at the ice cream, but at the faunus family sitting at the table in the corner. He had a reprimand all ready when she spoke, "She's the most beautiful girl ever…"

Qrow raised a brow, looked closer at the family. A young girl, maybe 10, with golden eyes and a glare leveled at Yang. "You are, without a doubt, your father's daughter."

Yang ignored him in favor of skipping over to the family. The father stiffened until Yang stuck her hand out, "Hi! I'm Yang. I think your the prettiest girl ever, want to be friends?"

"The Taiyang in her really just… hits you straight in the jaw sometimes," Qrow commented to Ruby, who was half-hiding behind his leg as she watched her sister attempt to …woo? befriend?… whatever, talk to the young faunus.

The girl was staring wide-eyed at Yang as the blonde continued to ramble on and on…and on.

"And! There's the Summer!" Qrow blew out a breath, decided to pretend he had no relation to his blonde niece and pointed at the counter, "They have cookie cones."

"Wha?!" Ruby was now glued to the display. She'd pushed Puffy Skirt Girl out of the way. Sensible leveled him with a glare.

Qrow shrugged. The woman huffed and bent to speak to Puffy Skirt. The younger girl straightened and marched up to Ruby. Qrow raised a brow.

He'd never broken up a fight between kids before..

"Excuse me!" Puffy Skirt had her hands on her hips. Ruby blinked as she turned to face her, "You knocked into me." Ruby shrank under what Qrow would classify as an aura of whoop-ass that Puffy Skirt had summoned.

Sensible smirked and the little boy with them shrank behind her legs with wide eyes. Ah. Siblings. Qrow recognized that fear.

"Ruby," Qrow called out, "Apologize and let the girl finish ordering huh?" Ruby nodded and stuttered out a very lengthy apology that included a soliloquy on the glory of cookies.

Qrow face-palmed. The Summer was strong in these girls.

"Well, cookies are delicious and your excitement is understandable." Puffy Skirt stood tall, her aura dissipated. "I accept your apology."

Ruby beamed, "Thank you!" Her face screwed up in horror for a second befor she stuck her hand out, "I'm Ruby by the way. I should have said that first."

"Weiss," the girl shook the hand offered and smiled. She turned to the person at the counter, "May I please have two vanilla creams in cookie cones for Miss Ruby and myself?"

Ruby's jaw dropped open and her eyes turned to stars. Qrow took that as his cue to take a seat by the door. One niece had forgotten about ice cream all together in favor of a pretty girl and the other now apparently had a sugar mama.

The Taiyang was strong in them too.

"Are you going to make any attempt to control your children?" Sensible stood in front of his table.

Qrow glanced behind her to see Ruby and her new friend chatting amicably and excitedly. There were hand gestures. There were smiles. Yang and the girl with golden eyes were holding hands.

"There's no property damage." He grinned at the way her eyes narrowed. "And I'm their uncle, so I wouldn't have to pay for it anyway." She snarled! Actually snarled!

Sensible certainly had beautiful eyes - especially when angered.

"Property damage is not an appropriate benchmark for children's behavior." Arms crossed, scowl in place. The sensible uniform was now lending itself to a specific look. He was totally into.

Qrow pushed out the chair across from him with his foot, "Take a seat, ice queen. Relax."

Her eye twitched, but she sat. "So you recognized me then?"

"Sure." Qrow raised a brow, "Who are you?"

-.-.-

Winter marvelled at the man in front of her. He'd shrugged at her introduction with a quick "Oh, so you're really rich. Cool. I won't pay you back for Ruby's ice cream then." He'd then proceeded to ask if she'd brought any Atlasian vodka with her.

"You're a very odd man." Winter tilted her head as she looked at him. He was lean, with a dusty grey sort of hair. Scraggily, she decided.

He smirked, winked at her, "I prefer interesting." She raised a brow at his drawl and he leaned forward across the table, "So what's an Atlasian specialist doing in Vale?" He glanced at her siblings, "With kids."

And observant. Her eyes flickered to the calluses on his hand. He regularly wielded a sword she guessed.

"Family vacation," Winter looked pointedly at Ruby, "And what about you, hunters don't typically take beach vacations?"

Qrow shrugged, again, but his eyes averted. "I'm just a big softie for a pair of puppy dog eyes." He winked at her again before gesturing with his thumb towards the door, "And I didn't bring work with me."

Ah. The guards. Weiss thought they were SDC security, but Winter recognized Atlasian troops, even out of uniform they stood out. Obviously, Ironwood was just as concerned as her father about potential threats.

Winter was saved from responding by a sudden gust of wind when the door behind Qrow opened. She looked up.

"Here you are!" A blond man appeared in the doorway with a scowl and leaned over Qrow. Qrow didn't flinch, but he was grinning. "I've been looking for you for half-an-hour!"

Winter lowered her brow as she took in the blond man. There was a definite resemblance between him and the young girl chatting with the faunus girl in the corner.

"You kidnapped your nieces?"

Qrow cackled. Cackled! He raised his hand as if swearing an oath, "Technically, they absconded with me for ice cream after defending my honor." The blond man stood straight and rolled his eyes.

"I'm Tai," the blond smiled at her, wide and toothy, "The girls weren't any trouble were they?"

"There's no property damage." Qrow raised his arms with a laugh. Tai slapped him over the head.

Winter chuckled, "The worst one has been this dusty crow." She gestured towards Qrow, who immediately pressed his hand to his heart in an act of betrayal. She enjoyed the arch of his eyebrows.

"Sounds right," Tai laughed. He turned his smile on his daughter as Yang came running up, the faunus girl dragged along by her hand.

"Hey dad! This is my girlfriend, Blake!" Yang gestured to the other girl with a wide spread of her arms. "She's super awesome AND smart!" The girl, Blake, blushed deep pink as Tai made a half-bow while greeting her.

Tai then quickly disappeared - likely to discuss the 'girlfriend' development with Blake's parents - but that was an assumption based on trajectory.

"Traitor," Qrow barked at her, eyes narrowing as Taiyang left. Winter shrugged, enjoyed his indignant huff. "And here I thought we were bonding."

"You were bonding," Winter said with a smirk. She twirled a loose bit of her hair around her finger, "I was meticulously plotting your demise, obviously."

The sudden slackjaw made her giggle and then Qrow was smiling at her, "Alright, Specialist Schnee." He nodded to himself before his eyes raised back to stare into hers, "How would you like to 'plot' some more, maybe somewhere more private?"

Winter felt the heat rise to her cheeks before she cleared her throat, "I wouldn't be adverse to another opportunity to mock you." She straightened in her chair, "I'd certainly be interested in putting my skills as a specialist up against those of an experienced hunter."

"Are you calling me old?" Qrow narrowed his eyes as he slid his scroll across the table.

Winter typed in her information, "I didn't call you young."

Qrow silently mouthed 'wow' as he mocked offense once more. "You're on, Ice Queen."

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Thanks for reading! Reviews Appreciated!


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